The Drawing Board
by Recruit
Summary: Ever since the first day, everything started to change. The Penguin Crew, the Otter, and the Lemurs take on a barrage of events, all caused by the arrival of the new Penguin. How will it all turn out? For better, or worse? Chapter 2 now!
1. Prologue

_**I'm not the best writer…=_= But I love these Penguins! And now everything slowly sets in…Hmm...I should delay the story with unnecessary blabbity!**_

_**Nah, enjoy. **_

**0000 hours**

**The Central Park Zoo**

Midnight.

Most animals were quietly sleeping in their habitats. The three Lemurs, King Julian, Maurice, and Mort, were huddled against each other, tired from their usual acts of partying and hollering through the night; Marlene the Otter in the nearest habitat, and the penguin crew following. They'd been exhausted from Skipper's daily regimen the second they even heard what the task held. At "HQ", Private, Kowalski, and Rico slept in their beds soundlessly, which were basically holes in the wall. Well, Private and Kowalski, at least.

Skipper, their somewhat bossy leader, was half-asleep, unable to enjoy the same comfort his comrades could. There were too many thoughts to think, too much to do, so little time. Besides, the music those Lemurs blast every night kept him up and tossing. How could they dance for so long without collapsing of a heart attack!?

Barely twirling a pencil with the tip of his right flipper, Skipper stared into the white abyss that was his planning tablet for tomorrow's training. He'd love to be slumbering, forcing himself to ignore Rico's peculiar bellows during his sleep like they all had to. But there was time. And time is golden. Skipper wondered how Private and Kowalski could sleep so easy through that.

Taking out a blue tape recorder from his pocket, which the whereabouts of is unknown, he started to record himself. "Skipper's Log," he began, "Midnight…I think. Slumber is not an option, we have to train, prosper, and succeed…Eh…" His mind trailed off. Something ate at him, there wasn't much different now ever since the new imports of plush toys modeled after the animals arrived yesterday, and there were less humans visiting…

Why _were_ there fewer humans anyway? These mammals _love_ the zoo; especially those little ones that throw popcorn and crunchy corn chips at the furry little things inside the fence to see them jump and frolic for entertainment. Skipper hadn't noticed until finally realizing the feeling of leftover popcorn kernels on his feet wasn't there, or the polluted water they swam in wasn't…polluted. It was clean and fresh. Perhaps Alice the Zookeeper scared some of them away.

Nonetheless, Skipper was now up and half-awake, having something to do. He liked the idea of fresh air anyway. Throwing the pencil away somewhere, he stood somewhat erect and waddled up to Rico's bunk. Private and Kowalski were mummies wrapped in nicely folded cloth, while Rico was of the poorest dead, thrown into a half-dug grave and in an awkward position. Skipper, uncaring, slapped the belly of Rico, and he gagged and spat out a flashlight, batteries installed and ready to use. Skipper then went up the nearby steps to the outside "wilderness", slowly closing the door behind him as not to wake the trio inside. Rico gave a loud snort, but continued to sleep as previous, smiling, and dreaming sweet, explosive dreams.

Surprisingly, it was very quiet outside as well, there was no howl or calling of street dogs or cats that were searching for food, no cars passing, but the sound of mice scattering was still there. A nice breeze swept past Skipper's legs and into the metropolis around him. The city was…intimidating. No penguin would dare step one foot into the dark alleyways without someone to keep him company, and keep lookout for danger. That's why he had a _team_; to be there for him, whenever necessary.

"It's quiet tonight…too quiet…" He squinted.

Taking a good perimeter scan, Skipper quietly waddled around the black fence surrounding the Penguin Pool to Marlene's habitat, and continued on to the Lemurs'. Spots of different colors appeared where he shone the flashlight; back and forth he waved it. He highlighted the three Lemurs; King Julian was kicking Mort away from his "precious" feet, Maurice was tending to his imaginary king, and Mort dreamed of King Julian's feet while attempting to touch his real ones, to no avail. "Everything seems secure…No noise, no annoying Lemurs…" He smiled and snickered a little. "No-"

The silence was cut by the sound of a car riding towards the Zoo. Skipper quickly took cover behind the small brick wall underneath the fence, only taking a peek over it, to see what strange occurrence visited today. A couple of cats scurried across the streets, focused on the noise.

The car, black in appearance, stopped shortly outside, headlights bright and yellow. One of its doors opened fast and hard, sporting a human. Due to the way it walked and the clothes it had on, not to mention the rough ways of handling the door, obvious to Skipper the human was Alice, the Zookeeper.

"_Alice? What's she doing here this late_?" Skipper thought. He snapped into action and slid on his belly towards the right end of the perimeter surrounding him, close to Alice. One door opened, and then another and one more human stepped out with clothes similar to Alice's. Alice stopped and opened another door, this time taking out a large crate, with the help of Human #2. "_What are they…A crate? Kowalski, op-_" Skipper stopped, having no strategic penguin at his side, and began creating options himself. He was shorthanded; without Kowalski and the options clipboard it was a bit harder to compile everything.

Alice and the other human carried the crate further towards Skipper, who was too busy using his own_ think-melon_ to remember to watch. Their footsteps alerted Skipper, and he quickly slid back to his original position, excited by the moment. Both humans halted in front of the Penguin area, opening their gate and putting the crate in its opening.

"Alright, now time to open this puppy," Alice spoke, and began cracking open the crate. Skipper glared in anticipation.

"A_ puppy?_" He misguidedly thought. When the crate opened, he gazed, and saw a black figure walk out and slip into the pool. Alice quickly closed the gate, walking away with the other human. "Guess that's it then," Alice's voice trailed off.

"A new one, huh…? Looks like it's time for operation; housewarming…!"

Now that the car sped off with both humans inside, Skipper slid over to the entrance of the large pool, and peeked over the fence. The black figure jumped out of the water and onto the middle surface, shaking.

To Skipper's surprise, it wasn't a puppy or anything else his options foretold; it was another penguin.

"_A new penguin, eh? Time for the greeting..._"

Skipper quickly jumped onto the nearest trash can, and again jumped with a few flips into the pool. The penguin inside turned to face him, but there was nothing; just the sound of a car fading away into the distance. The new penguin stood breathless, all was still for this brief time.

Suddenly, Skipper sprang from underneath behind the other penguin, and held his flippers high, combat ready. The other penguin, startled, lunged at Skipper, pushing him to the ground, and forcing him into submission by forcing Skipper's flippers down with their own. Skipper was too taken aback to weave out of the way.

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa_, calm down, s'friendly!" Skipper, under the penguin, exclaimed. The penguin on top slowly backed off and away, focusing on Skipper's flippers. "Sorry to scare you, but you'll never know what could happen in the field of war...Everything alright?"

He began to examine the newbie. He was male, and just a bit shorter than Skipper, both being shorter than Rico and Kowalski, and Private being the shortest. He had no major differences from the other penguins, except for the marks he had around the beak. They looked like burn marks, starting from the tip of his beak to the right end and shortly angled downwards on his skin, where no feathers could grow. The white part of his body was also grayer in tone. Everything else was the common penguin physique.

The penguin hesitated to speak, staring forward at Skipper. "Yeah, I'm fine, are you O.K?" His voice was slightly lighter-toned than Skipper's, and had a general English accent.

"Don't worry about me; I'm battle-hardened, always ready for combat!" Skipper flaunted his years of training and precision. "Looks like you're the newest member of the Zoo, recruit!" The other penguin stared in confusion.

"Wait, what?"

"Ah, where are my manners, I haven't even introduced myself. The name is Skipper. And you are?"

The penguin looked off in another direction, embarrassed, and hesitant to answer.

"What, you've got a name, speak it, recruit!" Skipper crossed his arms.

He continued to stall, and fiddled, scratching his head. Skipper was now tapping his foot in impatience and raised an eyebrow. The now red penguin finally answered.

"I…I don't know…I don't really have a name…"

"Don't have a name…?" Skipper stopped. "Well that won't do! We've got to identify you someway, recruit…!" Skipper spoke. "That's it, Recruit!"

"Err…Recruit…" He shook hands with Skipper; confused, but happy to be welcomed.

"Why don't I bring you back with me, no use sleeping on the ground for the night."

Recruit followed, excited to be so warmly welcomed in. Soon he'd be with the others as well, but he was in for more than he bargained for.

**Just chasing what I want here. xD More coming soon! **

**Skipper ftw.**


	2. Prologue Cont, or Being the Man

"So…"

Both Skipper and "Recruit", the name deemed to the new penguin, slowly waddled out of the penguin area. Skipper himself had already started to question the attitude, looks, everything about Recruit; he had no _name_. How was the leader of an "elite" team supposed to instantly trust someone who has no idea who they are? And there was another thought; Skipper wouldn't allow a stranger into HQ. Not because it's dangerous for the team, but dangerous for the stranger; for numerous reasons.

"Where'ya from, Recruit?" Skipper started the conversation again. He'd wanted to flesh out all he could before getting to HQ. He had to seem friendly, yet not suspicious; even though he suspected plenty already.

"Err…I uh…" Recruit fiddled again, this time softly rubbing the marks on his beak area.

"Don't know where you're from, either…?" Skipper looked at him sharply, then back at the ground. "Cheese and crackers, Recruit, not givin' me much to work with here…!" Skipper continued to waddle. Recruit, in front, tried to hide his embarrassment before Skipper could see his troubled face. He had no idea what was going on, yet he still managed to embarrass himself. Who doesn't know their own identity?

As they passed the front gate, something started to shift in the Lemur habitat. The smallest Lemur, Mort, fell shortly off of the platform all three slept on, and laid out flat on his back. Mort slowly forced his eyes open, and sat up straight, looking at the fake volcano in front of him. It looked a bit darker or even burnt, probably due to what happened with the Cirque de So Great act.

Mort turned and threw himself sideways at an attempt to sit straight. The bouncy "palace" was there for him to push off of; the constant dancing earlier almost tore his tiny legs apart. Taking a look around, he shortly noticed Skipper and another penguin with him. It didn't quite look like Private, Kowalski, or Rico, but Mort simply shrugged and let his body fall to the ground to sleep again.

"Who're they?" Recruit, near the Lemur gate, gestured towards the animals inside.

"Classified."

"Huh?"

"Lemurs."

"Oh…okay." Recruit took a quick look at them again, and caught back up with Skipper. Finally, they reached HQ. Skipper had three soldiers inside, only one bunk left, and two people left to bed. He couldn't just leave Recruit to sit on the ground; also yes, he regarded Recruit as the "new guy", but not the new soldier. Besides, that name existed only because he had none to begin with. And then there was another thought.

Recruit gave sharp looks at Skipper, then HQ, and back at Skipper. "So-

"We start at 0600 hours, G'night!" Skipper closed the door to HQ, leaving a bewildered Recruit glaring for an answer.

"But…what?" He looked around hopelessly, maybe for another tour guide or just a random onlooker, but nothing. "Guess I sleep here then…" Recruit fell and sat, pretending to fluff the pillow that was the concrete ground outside of HQ, next to a small tree. Of course he wouldn't be comfortable; have aches and pains in the morning, but there been nothing to cry about. He didn't want anyone calling him the "crybaby". But why did Skipper just leave him grounded? And what was going to "start"?

**0500 hours**

**Penguin Headquarters**

By the time morning came, the atmosphere changed instantly inside. They waited, waited for that signal, for one person to even make a small noise, to surprise and startle them. It was all part of their version of "fun"; though anyone besides the penguins would call it being psychotic.

And then it happened.

"Fall in line, men!"

The penguin leader howled, using the megaphone acquired from the Zookeepers' office. His voice boomed and echoed throughout the small confines of HQ; more than enough to wake the three in bed. Private, Kowalski, and Rico quickly flipped out of their bunks, standing tall in front of Skipper and saluting him.

"Yes sir! Private, re-

"Can the introduction, we've got more important duties to do." Skipper interrupted Private. "Duty? Do…ty…Whatever. We've got a new animal on our hands..."

"Ooh! Is it a furry little rabbit? I've always wanted one!" Private spoke again, excited through his British accent.

"No, it's-

"A badger!?"

"A carnivorous mammal with the malicious intent of "food"?"

"L-lemur!"

"No, no, and thank the stars NO!" Skipper pointed to Rico with an angered face. "He's one of us; another penguin." Rico gave a hearty smile, bumping Kowalski with his flipper. "Don't get any ideas, boys; we can't just enlist someone randomly. That goes against procedures! And going against procedures is just wrong. " Kowalski spoke up. "Skipper?"

"What is it, man?" Skipper cocked an eyebrow.

"I predict in the future that more animals will arrive and settle into the Zoo; with that in mind we may need the extra manpower to keep things in check." Kowalski suggested. "Current statistics show that those animals will show in less than six months." Kowalski flashed a picture of three bars on his clipboard; one with the time of the event, one with the number of animals, and another with the probability of the new arrivals.

"Hmm…five heads are better than anything below it…Alright then, granted! But we're not taking any chances; we'll need to start up the initialization first." The three in front of Skipper started a team high-five, or flipper. "Ah, I remember my first few weeks; the name-calling, all the sweat, the number of toilet water baths…47, to be exact. Those were the days…"

"Kah-boom, kah-boom, kah-boom!" Rico yelped, eager to start the training.

"Ah, Rico remembers his first day! Yes, Rico, they'll be plenty-a-boom-boom in this operation."

"And what would that be, Skippa?" An eager Private questioned him.

"Men, prepare to commence operation: Fresh Meat!" He turned to face the team. "But know this, I don't exactly trust the guy; he doesn't know who he is or where he's from. Keep an eye on him. That means _both _eyes for you, Private."

**0600 hours**

**Outside of HQ**

**Current Operation: Fresh Meat**

**Operation Details: Training and Orientation**

**Other Information: **

**Progress: Began at 0600 hours**

Recruit was still sleeping while morning had started. He shifted his head against the not-so-soft pillow he found nearby; and he wasn't having that nice of a dream either. There were trees, animals running, and a huge flaming inferno roaring in front of Recruit. He stared into it, as every animal ran for their lives, some on fire, some cheering on those inside to hurry. Recruit began to walk into it; why, he hadn't known, but there was a reason. Recruit himself then burst into flames; his dream was melting. Everything in his mind was being cremated into ashes, until there was nothing left.

"A-ten…Wake up!"

Recruit threw himself into a sitting position, screaming at the top of his lungs. He and Private were now face to face; Private began screaming as well, followed by Rico banging a now broken trumpet onto the ground, instead of actually playing it.

"Private, Recruit, enough with the opera! Kowalski!" Skipper proceeded to slap both Private and Recruit across the beak, while Kowalski took Rico's trumpet away. Rico scoffed, but joined Kowalski and Skipper anyway.

"Much better now, thank you!" Private stopped, along with Recruit.

"Good man. Recruit!" Recruit was busy rubbing the side of his head he slept on; he realized his pillow was a rock. "Ears open, eyes peeled!" He pointed to the tallest member. "Kowalski, one-minute, fast and simple explanation, go!" As Kowalski pulled out a small cane, Rico unrolled a large sheet of paper, a map of the Central Park Zoo, holding it firmly.

Kowalski began his current job. "This entire Zoo will be full of humans and maybe some in wheelchairs; we only have to make one mistake and our secrets will be known to the masses, which is why we are an elite team specifically created for this type of operation." Kowalski used the cane to highlight small points on the map. "You're being enlisted into training because we believe you have the potential to join us and help keep this Zoo secure, should you decline-

"You don't want to know." Private finished his sentence.

"Exactly."

"Fifteen seconds, that's all I'm givin' ya, Recruit, we don't have all day! Well, make that 12. Scratch that, ten. Nine. Eight." Skipper began counting down. Recruit stared at the map, then Skipper.

"Wait, I don't get it, what's-

"Five."

"But-"

"Four."

"I-

"Three."

"Two…I mean-

"One."

"BUT I-

"Times up, glad to have ya, blah blah, love and all that, Rico, Private, get him outta here! Kowalski, you're with me. Operation: Fresh Meat is a-go! …Again." Rico and Private made their way to Recruit, while Skipper and Kowalski slid away in another direction. Private forced Recruit to stand, while Rico stood beside him.

"Don't worry; we know what we're doing." The small penguin smiled, and signaled Rico on. Rico gestured an "O.K.", and waddled behind Recruit. "Be sure not to land flat!"

"Okay, can I say _something_!?" Recruit was interrupted.

Rico quickly grabbed Recruit, picking him up and above Rico's head, hurling Recruit far, over the Penguin fence and inside towards the pool. Private and Rico slapped flippers, then slid over towards the Penguin habitat. Operation: Fresh Meat was fully…operational.

**FINALLY updated. :D More to come! Reviews are nice. :D**


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